The invention relates to a method of plowing snow from a site using a snowplow furnished with at least two blades forming together at a required plowing angle, and there being on the plowing site fixed objects, such as airport lamps, rising over the site surface and smallish elevations or similar objects.
Previously known is an airport snowplow having two blades at a required angle to form a plow. The front ends of the blades are apart from one another so that a distance of 0,5-1 meters remains between their front ends. On the front side of the plow at the pointed front end, brushing devices are installed to brush forward or to the sides the lane that remains unplowed between the front ends of the plow blades. Since there is on the airport site lamps rising over its surface, plowing is carried out so that the plowing equipment is driven over the lamps from the middle, whereby the brushes clean the lamps and the unplowed lane.
The disadvantage of the above arrangement is that the brushes wear out quickly on working continuously against a rough surface. In addition, the plow is not fit for use in deep snow, since the brushes cannot move a thick layer of snow in front of the blades. Further, the plow is suited only for snow plowing, since the brush portion cannot remove ice nor any other harder material from the surface.
The aim of the invention is to produce a better plowing result both on plowing a plain site and on plowing an obstacle, as on plowing over a light fitting. This is achieved by means of the new plowing method and snow plow as discussed below.
The advantage of the plowing method and the snowplow as per the invention is that on a site without obstacles snow plowing is carried out completely by means of the plow blades, whereby the track of plowing is even. The capacity of moving even a thick layer of snow is appreciably better than that of brush snow plows. On a site with no obstacles it is possible to plow at a higher speed, and then to decelerate at light fixtures. Thus, only when facing an obstacle does the front end of the plow is open momentarily so that cleaning is carried out by brushes. The brushes are thus long-lasting, thanks to the infrequent use thereof. Opening the front end of plow does not change the working width of the plow, and the plow can be used as a normal plow with the front end closed, when the brushes are retracted.